DAY 8- Free Day!

My name is Amy, and I am a rising senior at Burton High School. Today I was one of the leaders of the day, and I really enjoyed taking a group out to explore the Las Tablas town. After being told about what the Free Day leaders were doing, I was terrified about getting everyone lost and not having a map or phone to guide us. My highlight today was that everyone was really cooperative and all took responsibility to make sure we were all safe. One issue we had today was that the weather was terrible, there was loud thunder, and extreme rain, and walking in puddles was not fun. Being a leader today taught me how to raise my voice loud enough to gather everyone’s attention and act assertively in order to ensure people understood the instructions. I really enjoyed leading today. 

My name is Mikaela, and I am a rising senior at Pittsburg High School. Before the briefing of what Free Day would entail, I assumed it would be really leisurely and simple, but it was actually the opposite. I was also nervous about getting lost with my group because I don’t have the best sense of direction, but I was able to delegate to someone in my group to help with that aspect, which was really nice. A highlight from today was that it was great bonding to be out on our own for the first time, and I think the bad weather added another layer to the experience. It was really fun getting out of my comfort zone and taking more of an active role leading the group! Overall a great experience ? 

Today our wake-up call was at 8:30am, which was a nice change of pace in comparison to our previous early mornings the last few days. We had breakfast at 9am and then had free time until around 12:45. The mural group for our CAP project still had to get supplies, so we went out with our PC, Paco, while other groups went out in small groups to explore the town. While the mural group was out, we didn’t find what we were looking for, but we were able to meet up with one of the other groups and went to the supermarket together to buy snacks and other necessities. When we were finished at the market, the rain was literally down-pouring, but we powered through with our ponchos and jackets and explored the town further, stopping in different stores to buy speakers and neck pillows. A little bit before 12, we headed back to our hotel and settled in for lunch at 1pm. We shared a delicious meal of rice and beans with chicken and fruit juice. After lunch, the others chose whether or not they would like to stay in the hotel or leave once more. In the second round, the rain was not as bad, it sprinkled a little bit but was still manageable. Groups were smaller in order to be more efficient with time, and many people decided they wanted to go to the dollar store. Some people went to a gourmet bakery and had brownies and Tiramisu, while others went to McDonald’s to try out strawberry cheesecake McFlurries. A few people went to the Las Tablas sign to take pictures. All the groups made it back to the hotel safely with no issues occurring. We hung out at the hotel and had our seminar where we answered bonding questions and wrote letters of appreciation to thank our supporters. Those supporters included donors who made many scholarships and activities for this trip possible. We then had dinner, it was pasta and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Our beloved chef, Ilka, showed us pictures of her wearing a traditional Panamanian folkloric dress, and she talked about how her nephew is Roberto (the carnival designer). We had our nightly meeting where we went over our day, and passed the torch to our next leaders: Jasmina and Arianna. 

Today was really different from the rest of our time in Las Tablas because all of the responsibility was placed upon the students. As leaders, we learned to trust others and share responsibilities. We were able to determine what we were comfortable with as leaders, like doing head counts, making sure everyone was on time, showing gratitude to staff, and making sure everyone was safe (wearing jackets and appropriate clothes for the rain). We were also able to gauge what we were uncomfortable with, like directions and traffic control. In one group we had Jhonathan and Julian Cabantac leading the way, in another, we had Alba and Julian Cudzinovic, and in the last, we cautiously worked as a group to cross traffic. This was inspiring because we learned that we could lead and rely on others at the same time. Being a leader means being comfortable with sharing the responsibility with other people, and we believe we performed really well considering how multiple people took different roles to ensure today was a success. We also learned that leadership can look different depending on the person, and each person has different strengths and weaknessess. We realize our approach might’ve been different from others, considering we are both on the quieter side. For example, instead of standing in the front, we stayed in the back (In our own groups) to make sure everyone was accounted for and no one was left behind.  

To close this blog off, we appreciate how easy our delegation made it for us to lead them today. We’re excited for our CAP to start tomorrow and all that is to come!

Love, 

Mikaela & Amy

Personal notes:

Mikaela – Hii Mom!! I miss you lots and will see you soon <333. Hiii Stafani and Esme, I miss you guysss and can’t wait to debrief when I’m back!! Let’s harmonize?

Amy – 妈妈, 你好, 你怎么样, 你吃得好吗? 我想你 ！我会很快回来, 下星期再见 ? <3333 Hi Leyla, I miss you a lot! I hope you are doing well and taking care of yourself. I can’t wait to talk to you again and play video games together. ? I miss playing Roblox with you and the others. Keep working out!!! Hi Athena and Cindy, I can’t wait to see you. I hope you guys are taking care of yourselves! I will buy you two presents from Panama if I remember. I hope LA isn’t bad for you, Pizza. And Cindy, I hope Shanghai is fun right now.